Recorded in Prague at the
Smetana Hall of the Municipal House on November 30, 1944 (CD1 /
1-4),

December 13, 1945 (CD2 /
1-5), probably on March 14-15, 1946 (CD2 / 10) and on November 7,
1945

(CD2 / 11), at the Rudolfinum
on June 4, 1946 (CD1 / 5-7), at the Domovina Studio on June 10,
1948 (CD2 / 6-9)

Groundbreaking early
recordings made by the legendary Czech conductor Rafael
Kubelík.

The name of Rafael
Kubelík symbolically opens the Supraphon series of archival
recordings featuring the most celebrated Czech conductors.
Kubelík’s journey to catharsis, which was represented
by the legendary performance of My Country at the first liberated
Prague Spring festival in 1990, lasted more than half a
century.

He first conducted the Czech
Philharmonic Orchestra when he was twenty and at the age of
twenty-eight (1942) became its chief conductor. The precious
recordings on this double CD were made between 1944 and 1948, prior
to Kubelík’s emigration. When it comes to
Dvořák’s music, one of the cornerstones of the
Czech Philharmonic’s repertoire, unique recordings of
Kubelík’s singular interpretation of Symphony No. 8
and the Piano Concerto with a spellbinding performance by the young
Rudolf Firkušný have been preserved. Yet
Kubelík also boldly presented a contemporary
repertoire.

The live recording of
Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 9 dating from December 1945 (a
mere three months after the work was completed!) is probably the
very first recording of the work. The onerous experience of the war
is also reflected in Martinů’s Symphony No. 4. The
unique recordings of the Memorial to Lidice and
Dobiáš’s Stalingrad cantata depict the
atmosphere of a difficult time. Kubelík’s recordings
from the 1940s are a testament to a legendary figure who after
another 40 years of conducting leading orchestras abroad would in
the spring of 1990 make a triumphant return to liberated
Prague.